15 Of The Best Snape Quotes From 'Harry Potter'
Because it's good to be bad.
instagram Harry Potter, the beloved series of books about the boy wizard coming of age and, you know, defeating the forces of evil, is adored by people young and old all over the world. People get into endless debates about the best characters. People are also just as passionate when it comes to the villains of the franchise. But no one in the books is as divisive as Severus Snape.
From the beginning of the series, Harry doesn't trust this wizard, and with good reason. Snape is snide, cold, dismissive, and at times downright hostile to the little boy wizard.
But what Harry doesn't realize is that every single action Snape undertakes has been to protect him in honor of his late mother, Lily, the love of his life who sadly never returned his affections. When Snape's true goodness is revealed, it's enough to touch the heart of even the most cynical reader around.
Snape may be an unlikely hero, but that doesn't make him an unlikable one. In fact, once you know him it's impossible to look back on even his shadiest remarks without a tiny grin forming on your face. If you're still in doubt, here are 15 of the best Snape quotes, and quite possibly the best Harry Potter quotes in the entire series.
They're guaranteed to remind you of why you love the complicated dude, and they'll probably send you scrambling back to the books to savor the journey all over again.
1. Preach, Snape
"It may have escaped your notice, but life isn’t fair."
2. Snape = pure sass
"What would your head have been doing in Hogsmeade, Potter? ...Your head is not allowed in Hogsmeade. No part of your body has permission to be in Hogsmeade."
3. A master of the Dark Arts
"The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."
4. A lesson in sarcasm from the master
"Yes, it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical education have not been wasted on you, Potter. 'Ghosts are transparent.'"
5. The reveal to end all reveals
"You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented them — I, the Half-Blood Prince!"
6. A willing teach to those willing to learn
"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
7. Never one for sentiment
"I may vomit."
8. He says what we're all thinking
"Tell me, are you incapable of restraining yourself, or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"
9. Words we can all live by
"Control your emotions. Discipline your mind!"
10. Snape delivering the wit
"Weasley’s wand causes devastation with the simplest spells. We’ll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox."
11. Snape, king of the verbal eye-roll
"You just know? Once again, you astonish me with your gifts, Potter. Gifts mere mortals could only dream of possessing. How grand it must be, to be the chosen one."
12. Ready to knock an ego down a few pegs
"Mr. Potter, our new celebrity!"
13. He isn't afraid to get mean
"Your father was a swine."
14. Harsh words when you're a werewolf
"Well, well Lupin... out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?"
15. The one word he uttered about his love for Harry's mother, Lily
"Always."
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margo. Her work focuses on relationships, pop culture and news. For more of her work, check out her Tumblr.